For those students who spent their summer days under the fluorescent lights of their jobs or internships, artificial tanning and tanning salons offered a popular alternative to regular sunbathing. And as the 80-degree temperatures disappear, more students contemplate this method of maintaining their summer glow.
Indeed, tanning has become an essential component of many young people's self-image: according to the World Health Organization (WHO), this trend is particularly noticeable in young women and has become a billion-dollar-a-year industry. Part of its popularity is due to the relative affordability of the practice: seven sessions at a tanning salon cost an average of $35.
The increase in tanning's popularity has long raised concerns within the scientific community. It had previously been found that ultra-violet (UV) radiation can lead to premature skin aging, eye damage and skin cancers. More recently, radiation was shown to have an adverse impact on the effectiveness of the immune system.
According to the WHO, annual rates of melanoma -- a potentially deadly form of skin cancer -- have doubled in the past 30 years. While skin cancers account for one in three cancer cases worldwide, in the United States that figure is one in two.
Senior Paige Cramer said she is aware of the sun's strength. Amidst tourists overcrowding her home state to achieve the perfect tan, the Florida native tries to shy clear of harmful rays. "The sun's intensity in Florida is so much stronger than it is up in Boston," she said. "Just by being outside for 30 minutes without sunscreen, I can see my skin getting darker -- it doesn't take long."
"I always put sunscreen on when I'm at home," Cramer added. "[But] when I'm in Boston, I don't think to put it on because the intensity is so much less."
Other students, such as freshman Ilana Marcus, apply sunscreen while at school as well. "I think people look better when they're darker, but I burn more than tan, so it's not worth it to go in the sun to be in pain later in the day," Marcus said. "Plus, I tan a little with sunscreen, and that's good enough for me."
While skin cancer can affect anyone, some individuals are at higher risk. According to the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, those at risk have lighter natural skin tones, family and personal history of skin cancer, constant sun exposure during work or recreation, or sunburn history from childhood.
Other factors that indicate increased risk are freckles, skin that becomes red and painful after sun exposure, blue or green eyes, blond or red hair, and a large number of moles.
Family history of skin cancer causes some students to think twice before going outside without protection. "I think about skin cancer when it comes to sun exposure," Cramer said. "My mother has had a few bouts of skin cancer on her nose and cheeks -- skin cancer is everywhere."
For Cramer, protecting herself from the sun is a priority, but many other students are less attentive. "I think that unless you have a personal reason to pay particular attention to sunscreen or other sun protection -- like family history -- then you're apt to forget it more often than not," freshman Leonora Mahler said.
Aside from scientific discoveries, personal preferences play into students' decisions to avoid tanning. "I tan when I'm at the beach, but not consciously," freshman Pedro Echavarria said. "I think tanning for the sake of tanning is a little vain."
Other students fear looking plain ridiculous, pointing out that bronzed bodies appear a bit unnatural when it's snowing outside. Mahler avoids "fake" tanning in order to not look like "all these orange people running around campus."
Unlike Maher, however, an ever increasing number of individuals are turning to artificial tanning for a summer glow. Yet scientific sources agree that UV exposure under tanning beds or lamps is just as dangerous as natural sunlight exposure -- and perhaps even more dangerous.
While UV radiation can be used for medical reasons under proper supervision, such as to treat Vitamin D deficiency, its mainstream use for tanning has led to much concern. The United States Department of Health and Human Services has even classified sunlamp and tanning bed exposure as "a carcinogenic to humans." A 2003 WHO report on Artificial Tanning Sunbeds said that certain machines can radiate with UV levels five times stronger "than the midday Australian summer sun."
While some may agree with Marcus' claim that "tanning booths are sick," there are also those like junior Maren Lindeland, who has been tanning since the age of 16. And here at Tufts, the lawn is still scattered with students soaking up the rays of the almost-extinguished late-summer sun.
